The only big surprise at this year’s Baftas was that Hugh Grant remained in his front-row seat for the duration of Take That’s feeble rendition of “Greatest Day” and did not, as I might have expected, walk out onto the Southbank unable to endure the crooning of Gary Barlow, who sounded like an X Factor auditionee, nor the foil heart-shaped balloons littered around his ankles.
Conclave won Best Picture, Adrien Brody won Best Actor (for The Brutalist) and Brady Corbet won Best Director (also for The Brutalist). Zoe Saldaña won the Best Supporting Actress award but gave the acceptance speech of a Best Actress winner, and Wallace and Gromit cleaned up.
Less predictable was Mikey Madison’s Best Actress win for her role as a sex worker embroiled in an affair with the son of an oligarch, in Sean Baker’s moving, funny, tragic farce Anora. Beating Demi Moore, Cynthia Erivo, Saoirse Ronan, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and the disgraced Karla Sofia Gascón, it was a late underdog victory on a night that otherwise failed to catch fire.
This awards season was always going to feel like a bit of a comedown. Brilliant films have been made, sure, but nothing can come close to the excitement of last year, when an unusual number of all-time greats and thrilling breakthroughs were in contention (the Barbenheimer rivalry, Poor Things, The Zone of Interest, Killers of the Flower Moon, Past Lives, Anatomy of a Fall) and it really felt important, like cinema was bursting open our imaginations, telling stories in bold ways, and showing us something new about the world. At each ceremony, it felt like anything could happen and it would matter.
‘A Real Pain’ writer, director and star Jesse Eisenberg got the best reception of the night (Photo: Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty Images)This year has not been comparably celebratory, and has instead been dominated by the controversial plaudits for Emilia Pérez (in my opinion a film impossible to take seriously, and not in a good way) – and then by the exposure of its star Gascón’s historic bigoted tweets.
Unfortunately, despite his charisma and enthusiasm, and a jolly, kilted opening number, in which he attempted to unite the entire Royal Festival Hall with his performance of The Proclaimers’ “500 Miles” – lost on everybody in attendance except James McAvoy – host David Tennant didn’t manage to compensate for this. The autocue script was dull, the audience were not generous with their laughter, and the atmosphere was so lifeless I could feel the draft from my sofa.
After the novelty of celeb-spotting had worn off (eight minutes in) I began my own decibel measure, comparing the applause for each nominee to see if there was anything it might tell us about what Hollywood and the British A-list really think.
What did I deduce? There was a lot of love in the room for A Real Pain – confirmed by the reception for both of Jesse Eisenberg’s genuine and charming speeches, which provided the only real laughs of the night – and for Bafta Fellow Warwick Davis, whose tribute to his late wife was the only real emotion of the night. There were whoops for Wallace and Gromit (and that glove-headed menace Feathers McGraw), and awkward acknowledgement for Emilia Pérez.
The Bafta winners in full
Best film: Conclave Best actor: Adrien Brody Best actress: Mikey Madison Best director: Brady Corbet for The Brutalist Outstanding British film: Conclave Special visual effects: Dune: Part Two Children’s and family film: Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl Outstanding debut by a British writer, director, and producer: Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt Production design: Wicked Film not in the English language: Emilia Perez Sound: Dune: Part Two Original score: The Brutalist Original screenplay: A Real Pain writer Jesse Eisenberg Adapted screenplay: Conclave writer Peter Straughan Animated film: Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl Supporting actor: Kieran Culkin Supporting actress: Zoe Saldaña Casting: Sean Baker and Samantha Quan for Anora Editing: Conclave Cinematography: The Brutalist Short film: Rock, Paper, Scissor Outstanding British contribution to cinema: MediCinema Documentary: Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story Short animation: Wander to Wonder Best costume design: Wicked Make up and hair: The Substance EE rising star: David Jonsson Bafta fellowship: Warwick DavisThe real world intruded only rarely. There was the cursory Donald Trump gag (Tennant said “talking of villains” after mentioning The Apprentice) which got the cursory cheers. When it came to acceptance speeches, a composed Madison dedicated her award to the sex worker community; Outstanding Debut winner Rich Peppiatt dedicated his for Kneecap to everyone fighting for their homeland and their language. But this was as political as things got – I wonder whether the backlash to Jonathan Glazer’s comments last year about the Israel-Gaza war have made award-winners reluctant to risk controversy.
I wish someone had, if only to remind us watching that films are supposed to be about passion, drama, fun, all of which were absent from this spectacle. It might have been a great night for British cinema, but it was a drab one for TV.
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